Fed spec steering wheel

[cellaway]

The horn on the elan is intermittent , I'm going to take off the front, of the steering wheel, which is held by 4 star drive bolts, to see if I can repair the contacts. The problem is the air bag system. Are there any precautions to take ? Can I change the wheel for a non air bag version or does it have to comply with original spec. The car is in France at the moment but will be back in the UK soon
Chris

[FunElan]

The difficult part is the hub...there are threads here that describe the hub that is required if you wanted to change over to the EU spec wheel.

Disconnect the battery and wait an hour or more before messing with the airbag. There's some discussion here about this procedure. Are you sure that the issue isn't near the horn itself and not the horn button?

[Fredjohn]

Check the earth connections where the horns are mounted. It's a vulnerable spot and subject to rust.

[cellaway]

Well, I took the air bag off the front of the steering wheel. The two small plastic switches were both broken, one switch also had both of the springs. I guess a previous owner had horn problems as well. I've repaired the switches with super glue and araldite. They work well with the airbag off the wheel. When the airbag is fitted, the left hand side sounds when the button is pressed hard, the right hand, not at all. The problem is obviously the pressure area of the wheel. Remembering the two springs on one side and none on the other. I'm wondering if I'm missing a part. The plastic matrix that presses down on the switch, doesn't appear to be that flexible. Should there be a cover over the matrix to reduce the amount of movement required?

[cellaway]

Has anyone got a definitive spec for changing a steering wheel, hub and cowl. There doesn’t seem to be anything specific on eBay and no threads of a recent nature. It could just be me…..

[Giniw]

Hello,
For your information, the Esprit SIR/FED steering wheel was available new for about £50 a couple of years ago from SJSportscar (without the air bag itself though).
As far as I know, it should be the same as the FED Elan one. I can't be sure though.
I do understand you would rather install the original UK/ROW pretty steering wheel though (either Nardi or the later Momo from the S2), but I don't know anything about the hub splines difference.

I think I should be able to take a photo of working horn contacts, but I am not with the car at the moment.

[Giniw]

The problem is the air bag system. Are there any precautions to take ?

On the Esprit there is a yellow fuse to remove in the passenger footwell (maybe a connector in the passenger footwell too especially when there is the passenger airbag option too), then you have to disconnect a yellow connector in the driver footwell, then you can remove the air bag from the steering wheel.

It should be similar on the Elan.
Please check Brit-Car-Nut's workshop manuals page where he kindly shared the SIR manual: http://www.lotusm100.com/manuals/ (I can't find this one on the LEC page)

[TorqueHorse]

... Should there be a cover over the matrix to reduce the amount of movement required?

I've found that depending how much you screw in the 4 star drive bolts makes a difference on how the airbag (and matrix) sits over the actual horn plunger 'buttons'. And yes, I also added a bit of foam to the underside of the matrix to reduce the travel distance I needed to push before the contacts closed. It was trial and error to get it to be the right sensitivity.

Finally, if you don't want to deal with the old style plunge buttons anymore, and you are ok with a bit of soldering and fettling, you can replace them with cheap microswitches. There is a thread here with pictures showing how to do it.

I used these microswitches and they fit just right (sideways) in the existing plunger housing.
Digikey SW153-ND‎
‎D2F-FL‎
SWITCH SNAP ACTION SPDT 1A 125V

Easier and cheaper than trying to find the right boss to switch over to a different steering wheel